Page 149 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

The cost of living also rose drarnatically, A bowl of soup,
that prior to Tet cost only VNF30, could only be {ound at40piastres,
A few stern of spinach doubled in price to VN/I5 and people had to pay
!00 piastres for a kilo of pork. The price of rice rernained steady.

Business ground to a halt because inland c ornrnunic ation s
had becorne difficult and the people were less willing to spend rnoney'
except on food. This trend however, had been noticeable for sorne-
ti.rne before the New Year. P sycholog i.c ally, business circles here
also suffered and no expansion of any kind was reported.
But following the unprecedented Viet Cong attack, Presi-
dent Nguyen Van Thieu's prestige recorded a drarnatic upturn. Many
political groups that thus far had opposed the government chose to
support it in the difficult days of the nationrs history. Moreover rnany
hard rneasures had been taken by the governrnent without encountering
any oppo sition.
Most indicative of this were the enactrnent of the General
Mobilization Law, the recall of reserves, the creation o{ the Popular
Self Defense Corps and the drafting of students. This absence of oppo-
sition can be traced to the Viet Cong offensive, which showed the Corn-
rnunists in their true light: a group of bad soldiers, killers and arso-
nists, who died by the huncreds, taking to their heels in the face of
deterrnined resistance.

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